The Sharkpunk Interview - Jonathan Oliver

Jonathan Oliver is an award-winning editor and the man in charge of not one, but three publishing imprints - Solaris, Abaddon Books, and Ravenstone. However, for SHARKPUNK he has brought his skills as an author to bear.


Sharkpunk: What, do you think, is the reason for people's enduring fascination with sharks? 
Jonathan Oliver: They feel very alien, despite the fact that they are earth-based creatures and I suppose, in many ways, they represents the mysteries of the sea, the draw of the depths.

SP: What was the inspiration behind your story Peter and the Invisible Shark? 
JO: Short answer is: I have no idea. I just started writing and made it up as I went along. I knew that I didn’t want to have the story set in the sea, bizarre as that may sound, and I struck on the idea of it being a story about haunting early on. But mostly, I just made it up as I went along.

SP: What challenges, or surprises, did you encounter in writing your story? 
JO: I suppose the main challenge was making the symbolic, real. To make the threat feel genuine and disturbing, when so much is about an individual who is disturbed. I think there’s enough ambiguity in the story that it allows for different readings.

SP: If you had to pick a favourite shark, which would it be? 
JO: Jaws. Though I realise that’s terribly boring. The original and the best.

SP: Do you have a favourite fictional shark (in books, comics, films, or video games)? 
JO: See above.

SP: Apart from your story in Sharkpunk, what's coming next from Jon Oliver? 
JO: I have a short story appearing in a Jurassic London publication at some point in the future, and I’ll be collaborating on a novel later in the year.

Thanks, Jon!

Jonathan Oliver is the award winning editor of The End of the Line, House of Fear, Magic, End of the Road and Dangerous Games. He is also the editor in chief of Solaris, Abaddon Books and Ravenstone, and the author of two fantasy novels. He lives in Abingdon with his wife, two daughters and their cat, Fudge.

You can find him online at www.jonoliverwriter.blogspot.co.uk 
and on Twitter as @JonOlivereditor.